Col. Michael Swope, of York County, was one of the first purchasers of lots when the town of York was laid out 1741. This is the first record we have of him. He was a jusge of the Orphans' Court of York county from 1767 to 1772, and commissioned a Justice of the Peace 1764. he was appointed, June 30, 1775, by Act of Assembly from 1768 to 1776. He was appointed, June 30, 1775, by Act of Assembly, one of the Council of Safety. in 1775 he was elected major of the Independent Light Infantry Co. The next year, on the organization of the celebrated Flying Camp, he was made colonel of the first battalion of the first brigade. Col. Swope's battalion suffered as severely as any during the Revolutionary War. At Fort Washington, near New York, nearly his entire command was either killed or taken prisoners, he was among the latter. He married first, Mary, daughter of Casper Spangler, who came to America 1727, and by whom he had children; the names are unknown. She died previous to 1764. By his second wife, Eva, he had a son, Andrew Simon, born Feb. 4, 1764 and another, George, born April 2, 1773. We have no account of Col. Swope after 1783. In the list of taxables of that year we find his family to have consisted of five persons, and him to have been a man of considerable means, among many things mentioned being a silver plate or medal valued at thirty-two pounds, supposed to have been given him for distinguished services in the war.
